We are going to need some details about the lights, mainly lumen output. Also, how big is the room you are growing in? AJ has some magic math he can do to tell you whether or not it will work well. I haven't had any coffee yet so no math for me.

Well then you are at about 3.5 sq feet with 32000 lumens, so just over 9000 lumens/sq ft. I think the minimum for fruiting is something like 3000 lumens/sq ft so I would definitely think it is possible in your setup, however the space sounds awfully small for 4 plants of fruiting size.

You don't need 2700k lamps unless you are growing an herb type product. Peppers grow best with full spectrum light. They are not photoperiodical. Use 6500K lamps in all the fixtures. Don't forget a fan, even CFLs produce heat.

6500k is good for vegetative growth 2700k is necessary for flowering your plants. 3000 lumens a square foot of growing space is a minimum number for growing to maturity indoors. If you have anything above 3000 lumens a square foot you are doing great. Although when it comes time to flower (if you still have 9000 lumens a sqft) you will want to dial back the amount of lumens you have and switch to the 2700k. In the summertime the sun puts off roughly 10000 lumens a sqft, when end of summer/fall comes around the angle of the sun changes, as well as the spectrum of light it gives off and the amount of lumens a sqft.

The grow space does sound awfully small. Even if yo were growing just one plant. Seeing as plants can get over two feet wide and that is an all around width. So unless you are planning on stunting their growth to keep them within a specific size...then I would think about expanding your grow area. Even for one plant I would want at least a 3ft circumference. Taking a picture of the grow area might help us get a better idea of what you are working with.

"Take this quarter, go downtown, and have a rat gnaw that thing off your face! Good day to you, madam.”

Ill let you guys discuss the math and ill just add the fact that you will not be able to grow four plants to maturity and produce pods in that space. One plant, ill take it, but 2 would be smooshed together, and 3 or more is not possible. Well, it may be possible, but, no, not possible. lol.

I was thinking about the size of even a 3 gal pot in relation to the area and you would have 4, 3 gal pots right next to each other. The plants don't grow within the diameter of a pot, they are gonna branch out and fill in.

Ill let you guys discuss the math and ill just add the fact that you will not be able to grow four plants to maturity and produce pods in that space. One plant, ill take it, but 2 would be smooshed together, and 3 or more is not possible. Well, it may be possible, but, no, not possible. lol. I was thinking about the size of even a 3 gal pot in relation to the area and you would have 4, 3 gal pots right next to each other. The plants don't grow within the diameter of a pot, they are gonna branch out and fill in. Either way, good luck, but I would try to get more space...

Exactly what I was thinking...even if you did get them all in there and growing you would not be able to penetrate the cannopy with your lights. If you placed some more lights down low that would help, but I still think it would be too dense to get light everywhere it needs to be for healthy productive plants.

I am no indoor expert though...so I would definately hit up those that are.

have i got the lighting power to double the withd or what size do you think ive got the lights just need to make that cabinet or grow room have a single garage thats joint to the house and under the same roof if that makes sense.
just wanted to no how small i can go or an eg of a good sized room cabinet

should i just put them on a bench and put the lights up will that work with maybe a film of some kind to reflect light

What type of plants? Look up the recommended spacing for them and go from there. You can probably get away with crowding them a little but not too much. You could always keep them a stunted in smaller pots to keep them smaller, but production would also suffer. I think you will definately need more lights. While the 4 you have listed put out plenty of lumens per square foot...with only 4 (1 per plant) you won't be able to spread the light around enough to actually use all those lumens. You could place each high powered bulb avove a plant then use some smaller/cheaper bulbs to try to get better coverage.

The 4 bulbs and space you have will get you started (and very well at that), and through maybe a couple months of growing then you can try to gage and add lights and space as necessary.

Shane

Remember also that CFL's are great grow lights, but their intensity drops off pretty quick as distance increases from the source. Their lumen output is usually measured at 1 ft (I think) and drops off after that.

Photoperiodism has nothing to do with the spectrum of light it receives. Photoperiodism is how much light/complete darkness a plant gets in a day/night cycle in relation to it's flowering habits.

Photoperiodism is spectrum dependant because both short-day and long-day period plants produce phytochromes which absorb red spectra light and are converted to a different form. The phytochromes revert or are changed back to their previous state during the night cycle. The amount of a particular phytochrome present regulates blooming in photoperiod plants. Only photoperiod plants, because of the production of phytochromes, take advantage of having enhanced red spectra lighting.

Peppers are day-neutral and are not dependant on phytochrome conversion to initiate blooming so they would not take advantage having red spectra lamps to make them bloom.

Willard...I really like that thread, it is great info and I have read it several times. What it fails to do is give you the basic requirments. IE How many lumens per square ft, how high the light source should be above the plant, how light height affects lumen intensity at the plants, what color spectrum works best for pepper plants specifically during vegetative/fruiting...or both, setup for multi bulb systems....it is a great explanation of how plants use light, but not how to give plants light they can use.

I understand that its easy to get irritated when the same questions get asked over and over by different members, and if a great thread that will enLIGHTen (hahaha) them is available I'm all for the "I'm just going to post a link because I think you didn't try hard enough to find it." type post but not without the added "Hey how ya doing? Here is a great thread that I think might help you out!" dialogue included...

I'm curious as to whether or not the plants utilize more of one spectrum during flower or not, does anyone have a source saying that the plants do best using the same spectrum year round? I always heard that red light helps flower a bit better for all plants whether or not they veg and bloom simultaneously but I haven't seen it in a scientific source. I've been using half 6500K and half 2700K because I think it gives the best spectrum range and the light looks about as close in color to daylight as you can get.